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Post by RuBisCO on Jul 26, 2017 17:34:53 GMT -5
Lol - no worries Apoplast. I agree the dehumidifier bit was a little tricky but the plumbing of coolant could certainly be done many ways. I just used the hoses with compression fittings as that was the computer cooling pump setup and it matched exactly with the radiators as it was all from CPU cooling components, that's one of the things that made it so easy, just 12V DC pumps. One thing I am not certain about is pump life and cooling fan life in this application. When I have a system failure or if it all turns pear-shaped in a few months I will be sure to post about it! Cheers!
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Post by Apoplast on Jul 27, 2017 7:10:57 GMT -5
Hi RuBisCO - Glad there are no hard feelings! Frankly I wish I had your skill at builds. My janky (can people still use the word "janky"?) builds work okay, but they look as if Rube Goldberg went steampunk while making his first elementary school science project. Looking forward to seeing your work on the new forum!
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Post by yukondave on Jul 27, 2017 11:39:06 GMT -5
I'm very intrigued with this thread and will be following it with interest. I found this in my parts stash last night. I don't recall why I bought it but it's time to play with it. Has anyone used a peltier unit to cool the water in the plant tray vs the air?
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Post by WillyCKH on Jul 27, 2017 14:20:38 GMT -5
peltier unit is most effective you have a water loop running, like how they liquid cool computer CPU and graphic cards. Air cooling is effective but only to a small enclosed area.
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Post by yukondave on Aug 1, 2017 9:01:43 GMT -5
It works! Now to start tinkering.
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Post by RuBisCO on Aug 1, 2017 17:51:42 GMT -5
I toyed around with Peltier units quite a bit and had some limited success. Got a medium sized terrarium down to 17C nighttime temps using a computer cooling reservoir and dan setup. I found that it seemed to not be able to get the temps of the circuit down enough with the small reservoir that I was using. Without a radiator I could readily get a litre of water down to 10C. I tried two Peltier units system where the first unit was used as the cooling unit for the second Peltier thinking that it would improve the temperature differential for the unit that cooled the circuit that suppliedd the in-tank radiator but it just didn't have the power to keep up with the heat draw of the tank. I did have an idea to use a larger reservoir and let it cool down good and run the radiator and pump on intermittent so the reservoir could get down to a lower temperature - never tried that build yet but would still like to when I get the time. I am not too confident that it would work well regardless as I just don't think the Peltier has enough power to keep up with the radiator system.
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Post by Apoplast on Aug 2, 2017 20:45:30 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread, but I am currently running a first test on my new, water-cooled, highland grow-room. In 10 minutes it took the temperature from 24C down to 20C with water at 10C while holding at 70&RH. Totally working so far! Need to see if tonight it an get it down to 16, then I will add a heat load tomorrow to see if it can hold with the added kilojoules. Sorry. Had to share. Very excited! This is all with about 1/16 of the power draw from my previous A/C cooled system!!!
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Post by Justintime on Aug 2, 2017 21:45:41 GMT -5
Can't wait to see your new build.
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Post by Apoplast on Aug 5, 2017 18:45:49 GMT -5
Hi all - Quick update. With 2 x T5HO 4ft fixtures in the room, the temps are holding at my set points. Those two fixtures produce more heat than the LED fixtures I'll add. The humidity drop has been more than I would like to see, but I can fix that. Plus the condensation on the lins and though the heat exchanger have made puddles. Again, something I think I can correct. All in all, I am calling this a success! Rechecked the BTU on the A/C unit and the increase in efficiency is even better than I thought - I'm achieving better temperature control with only 1/20th the cooling power and power draw. I'm excited to show this build off to you all once we have a new forum and can post photos. It will be my first contribution. For now know that it seems water cooling a well insulated highland grow room definitely seems like the way to go!
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Post by WillyCKH on Aug 5, 2017 19:19:08 GMT -5
Can't wait to see that!
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